Poseidon and Amphitrite
by H. K. Rissing
Summary: The tale of how Poseidon won his queen, Amphitrite... eventually. Credit for this beautiful picture goes to aayshaak.
1. In Which A Prophecy Is Made

The myth of how Poseidon, second son of Kronos and Rhea, Lord of the Seas, came to find his wife is a complicated one, and one not much repeated. Perhaps it was usually a tale annexed from the standard collection of Greek stories because it portrayed Poseidon in an unflattering light at some points, and the humans didn't want to offend him, or perhaps there were more exciting tales to repeat about more important gods.

The story starts long before the birth of Zeus, the uprising of the gods, or the establishment of civilization as we know it. Rhea was bereft- her third child had been ripped from her arms and swallowed before her eyes- and Kronos knew by now that it was in his best interests to stay well enough away from her at this time. Therefore, Rhea found herself with unlimited time on her hands. She didn't want the saccharine sympathy was the sisters she usually interacted with as they bounced their own children on their knees and, Rhea felt sure, secretly gloated behind her back- she was queen above them all, but while they were surrounded by happy, loving families, she was alone.

So she sought the solace of the sea. She went to the shining underwater palace inhabited by the Lord of the Sea and his Lady. Her peaceable sister Tethys and brother Oceanus had abdicated in favor of their son, Nereus and his wife, Doris. Tethys was usually calm and sweet, but at the moment, she was quite engaged in helping care for the youngest of Doris' fifty daughters- Amphitrite was her name, and she was three hours old. Rhea found herself drawn in by the hustle and bustle of everyone making ready for the celebration of or caring for the newest Princess of the Sea. She made her way to the room where Doris lay, Amphitrite swaddled in her arms. Her oldest twenty-five daughters swirled around her, bringing her food and water, blankets, a seashell rattle for Amphitrite, and taking care of their twenty-four little sisters.

Rhea wished she had known about Amphitrite, so that she could have brought a gift. Doris kindly smiled and asked if Rhea would like to hold her. As Rhea had taken the small girl in her arms, held her close to her heart, the aching void left by her three missing children, Hades, Hestia and Poseidon, was so insurmountable that fat tears leaked from under the lids of Rheas's eyes, splashing down into the baby's face. Amphitrite woke, but did not begin to cry. With her bluish-green eyes and matted black hair, she looked so much like Poseidon. Rhea knew, supporting her tiny body aloft, that her precious Poseidon could have been great friends with this girl if they had ever known each other. Rhea nestled the child against her collarbones, stroking her back. She saw that Doris had fallen asleep in her bed, and all of her fourty-nine other daughters had left the room. Rhea held Amphitrite in the crook of her elbow lovingly, then whispered to her, "One day, a very great man will see you, and fall in love with you, and you'll be a very great queen, Amphitrite, just like your mother." Then she tucked the sleeping infant in snug next to her mother and took her leave.

**A.N.- Yay! New Greek Mythology story! I'm sorry to Hades and Persephone, but I was rereading it and I realized that it really needed some major editing, so that's in the works. Pertaining to this story, I have actually WRITTEN OUT THE ENTIRE THING, and all I'll have to is type it up. I hope you enjoyed, please let me know what you thought!**


	2. In Which A Promise Is Made

Many years later, after Poseidon, Zeus and Hades had emerged victorious from the war and drew lots, Poseidon began to entrench himself in the realm he would have chosen anyway. The sounding sea was so mysterious and deep. He had the Cyclopes, his new assistants, build a fine new abode for Nereus and his family, and then proceeded to host a party in his grand new palace, to which everyone was invited, so they could get to know their new ruler. At this party, Nereus approached Poseidon, clutching a goblet of wine, and, judging from the wideness of his smile and the blankness of his gaze, Poseidon surmised it wasn't his first. But that was fine with him. Why throw a party if you don't intend people to get drunk? He clapped Poseidon on the shoulder, saying, "Hail, Poseidon, new Lord of the island-girding deeps!" Poseidon smiled, responding with equal verve, "Nereus, my knowledgeable, most highly esteemed friend!" They traded a mixture of compliments and mild insults for a few minutes. Though slightly inebriated, Poseidon had been taught well enough to know that Nereus wanted something. "SO!" boomed Nereus, having seemed to become increasingly more intoxicated even in the minutes they had been talking. "It's high time you took a wife!" Poseidon was confused and amused in equal measure. "Nereus, this is only my first party as ruler of the sea," He inclined his own goblet towards the older man respectfully, saying, "I don't need a wife right now," Nereus shrugged. "Well," he slurred, "Should you change your mind, I would be more than willing to give you _any_ of my fifty daughters. By Zeus, I'd give you all fifty if you wanted them! So long." And then he shambled off. Poseidon smirked.

Nereus had known that it would make sense for Poseidon to depose him the same way Zeus had deposed Kronos, and figured that if the new king was his son-in-law, he wouldn't have to worry. Poseidon put the incident to the back of his mind and continued to enjoy his party, interacting with all of his new subjects and getting a little inebriated himself.

Later, after most guests had retreated, wine-sodden, to their rooms, Poseidon was making his way to his own magnificent new quarters when he ran into someone in the hallway. When he saw it was a woman, he apologized profusely, even more so when he saw she was a very attractive woman. "What is your name?" He asked. "My name is of no consequence," She responded lightly. He tried again, "What are you doing here?" She replied, "You hosted a party," Poseidon chuckled for a moment, then said, "Yes, but I mean here, as in this area of the palace," She was silent for a moment, and Poseidon tried, once more, in vain, to focus his blurred vision on her. The fact that the hallway was unlit was not helpful. "Minding my own business," She replied, a little crisply. This made Poseidon really laugh. He could make out her features indistinctly- she was smaller than him, with a tanned, oval face, eyes that appeared like bruises in the dark, and very long hair.

Poseidon had changed his mind about not wanting a wife the moment she refused him her name- he had always been intrigued by mystery- and decided that none but her would do as his empress. "I like you," He declared. "Will you stay with me tonight?" Her answer was immediate. "Absolutely not." Poseidon stroked his beard. "Will you stay with me if I catch you?" He asked. "You can't catch me," She responded, and took off running down the hall. She ran as though she knew these corridors better than he did. He rounded a corner he had seen her disappear behind and suddenly, she was nowhere to be seen. He allowed his mind to spread, the way he had been taught. He could feel her presence, that she was still in the palace, but he could not find her. He searched all night long, but there was no sign of her, then or later, when all the guests thanked him for the excellent party, wished him well as their king, and went on their ways.

He threw another party a week later, because he had been unable to get the dark-haired, mysterious beauty that he already thought of as his off his mind, and a party was the only way he could think of to see her again. This time he'd get her name and ask her father for her hand. He was supremely confident- because what man wouldn't want to be the relation of one of the most powerful gods? By this time next week, she would sit beside him on a throne of silver and pearls. Or so he thought. What he soon realized was that, due to the fact that the hall had been very dark, and he had been a lot more drunk than he'd originally thought, all he could recall of her was that she'd had bluish-green eyes and curly black hair. But all fifty of the Nereids had bluish-green eyes and every woman at the party had curled her hair. All night, Poseidon danced with goddesses, nymphs, naiads and Nereids, and gotten the names of all of his partners, but he had not found the mysterious woman who had so enthralled him. He felt certain the second he heard her speak, he'd know it was she.

When he paused for a rest, he went to get himself a goblet of wine and saw, standing off to the side, in conversation with some minor god, was his future queen. She wore a small diadem in her black hair he hadn't noticed before that marked her of the fiftieth daughter of Nereus and Doris. With a broad smirk on his face, Poseidon wove his way through the crowd to get to Nereus. "Nereus, my friend!" He started in swiftly. "Poseidon, the most-" Poseidon held up his hand to silence him. "I have decided to take you up on the offer you made me in the previous week. I ask for the hand of your daughter Amphitrite in marriage," Nereus silently studied the younger god, then broke out into the very widest smile. "It will be my honor," He responded immediately.

Poseidon, triumphant, then went to seek out his future bride. He ordered away the minor god she had been conversing with (finding her father and getting his consent had taken a matter of minutes) and began talking to her himself, simply to make sure she really was what she had appeared the previous week. They spoke as though they were perfect strangers, and Poseidon surmised that she believed he didn't remember their interaction, believing him to have been too drunk at the time. Wouldn't she be surprised later, when her father told her of his actions?

After the party ended, Amphitrite, her forty-nine sisters and her parents went back to their new palace. There, Amphitrite was summoned to her father's audience chamber. "My dearest little girl," Nereus started. "Yes, Father?" asked Amphitrite. Her relationship with her father had never been that of subject and subjugator- it had been that of father and daughter. "A wonderful opportunity has occurred. The Lord Poseidon has expressed his desire for you as his bride, and I agreed!" Amphitrite was stricken with horror. "Father, I thought we had always agreed that you would never promise me to a suitor without my consent first. Doesn't what I want matter?" She ventured. Her father looked confused. "My daughter, what more could you want? Poseidon is young and strong and so powerful. He has a good head of hair and all of his teeth, and he's the brother of the most powerful god that ever was. There will never be a better match for you!" Amphitrite had no words to say and so let her father continue. "He wishes for you to come to his palace tomorrow at sunrise. With a retinue of fifteen of your sisters, and a platoon of my soldiers, you and your dowry and any possession that you wish to take with you- though I don't imagine that you'll have many of those! - will travel to our old palace, and your life will begin! Really, my daughter, this couldn't have worked out better!" White-faced and stiff-backed, Amphitrite accepted her father's blessing, agreed to all of this, and made her way back to the room she shared with her twenty-four chronologically closest sisters. She reasoned with herself as she went that this was a good opportunity, that she would fill the shoes of her mother as a good and just queen, and perhaps she could put off the motherhood aspect of marriage for a century or two before people began to clamor for heirs.

When she got to her room, she found that her mother and weepy sisters had already packed up all of her trunks of belongings. Her entire life had been neatly boxed up and was now being shipped off with her to live with a strange god she knew nothing about, all in the name of political gain. Like a herd of cattle. Like what she wanted didn't matter. Her mother sent all of her sisters out into the hallway and sat down next to her on the bed, the only thing of hers that had not been thoroughly dismantled. "Now, my darling, a very important stage of your life is ahead. This time of adjustment from being a member of a household to a head of the household, is going to be the most difficult time of your life. Your influence over your husband is great- it is the wife that runs the house and, therefore, makes the world go around, never forget that. But you are no longer your own person, beholden to none. What he says is your new law, his wish is your command." Amphitrite leaned into her mothers' embrace, the way she had all her life. "This sounds a very great deal like slavery," she remarked, prompting her mother to laugh. "Oh, precious, it's not so bad. You become accustomed to it. And besides, masters do not usually let their slaves eat at their table and sleep beside them. Remember to conduct yourself with grace and dignity, no matter what, and be kind to everyone, from the lowliest servant to the most important dignitary. If you do these things, you will prosper and your life will be filled with bliss and happiness." Her mother took Amphitrite's chin in her hand, smiling into her eyes. "My lovely littlest girl, a grown up woman!" Doris' eyes began to fill with tears, as did Amphitrite's'. "Will I never see you again?" asked Amphitrite. "You may send for me any time you wish, and we will see each other at parties and other functions. I will advise you on your new duties as queen. We shall see each other often- you just will not be my little girl anymore."

Doris leaned forward and kissed Amphitrite on the forehead, then said, "Sleep now, my dearest. When the sun rises tomorrow, your life will begin!" Her mother left her alone in her room, and none of her sisters came in, leaving her alone in the vast and echoing cavern. What her mother had said was true, and Amphitrite made a decision. She was one of the embodiments of the sea, and had no intention of going somewhere or doing something that she didn't want to do. And the way her mother had described it, getting married was something she most certainly did not want to do. Poseidon could pick another one of her sisters- one who appreciated marrying him for the honor it was, one who was ready to leave their father's jurisdiction and have a family of their own. She picked through her possessions, selected the ones she thought she would need, and under the cover of darkness, ran away.

**Chapter 2! The way I originally wrote it didn't include much dialogue, so I rewrote it, and I'm hoping it's as good as the first draft. I really have become attached to these characters- they're now almost one of my favorite Greek Mythology pairings. Doris did not mean to freak Amphitrite out- she was just trying to prepare her, and because Doris is a great deal more complacent than her youngest daughter, the future life she described actually sounded pretty good to her. OH, AND, ALSO! I save all these fics in a certain way, and the way Poseidon and Amphitrite got saved on my computer was PandA. This made me immeasurably happy. Please let me know what you think, I'd really love to hear it!**


	3. In Which A Chase Takes Place

Though Amphitrite loved the sea- it was her home- she had always wondered about what might lay beyond. She had always wondered what Olympus might look like, what hearing Zeus' thunderbolts shake would sound like, what dry ground would feel like. And now, here was her opportunity to travel! So, in a way, being promised to Poseidon really was the best thing that had happened to her thus far in her life- it had provided the spark needed to spur her on to find out who and what else populated the world

She knew she could not continue living below the waters. It was Poseidon's realm now, and he could be upon her at any time. She walked out of the waves as dawn was dusting the world golden. She walked and kept right on walking, pack on her back, knowing that by now her escape had been discovered and Poseidon would soon be sending out emissaries to search for his missing property. She had to put as much distance between herself and salt water as she could.

So, marveling at every sight she saw, wondering and laughing at every new situation, she hiked up a mountain. She found swiftly that her silken dress, while perfect for floating around through the smooth marble halls of the palaces she was used to, was impractical for trekking up dirt roads, getting snagged on burs and strange, spiky plants. After a day of walking, the sun, which was so very much warmer than she'd ever known, was sinking down to the western horizon. She came across a house halfway up the mountain, small and humble and still within sight of the sea. Amphitrite presumed that she was far enough away for now. An old man was sitting outside of it, tending to a flock of strange, fleecy animals that kept making pained noises, and an old woman was just bringing him food to eat.

When they saw her, they both paused, staring at this radiant young creature that could only have been a goddess of the sea, from her hair and dress that undulated and billowed around her like she was underwater, to the greenish tint of her skin to the puddles of water that gathered everywhere she put down her foot. Salty streams of water still ran down her skin in rivulets. They both fell piously into bows before her. "Please, rise," she said quietly, in the same tone her mother used when she was addressing groveling supplicants. "Goddess," they both murmured, averting their eyes respectfully. "I am the goddess Amphitrite, daughter of the erstwhile king of the sea, Nereus and his wife, Doris. I have fled my home in order to escape from a marriage I did not want. I do not know where I am and I have no notion of what is proper here on the surface. If it does not trouble you too greatly, I would gratefully accept your help." They both bowed deeply once more. "Anything to help a goddess," the old man murmured.

Was this really the deference with which surface dwelling mortals treated deities? After she had been bathed- removing dust and the lasts of the salt water from her skin- and arrayed in, by choice, a spare set of the old woman's' simple woolen garments in drab colored that chafed at her, she unwound her shining black hair from her crown and wrapped it, along with all of her other ornamentation and jewelry, up in her silken dress and bundled it into her pack. She offered the old couple her jewelry, the gems that had adorned her dress, but they declined swiftly, murmuring that the honor of helping a goddess was the greatest gift of all.

Surface food was strange, dry, and not at all what she was used to. She ate with her hosts on the front porch, watching the sun go down ever so slowly. The sky turned the most dazzling array of colors from the surface, but it couldn't compete with the majesty of sunset below the waves. Once she went back inside the humble house to pick up her pack, she heard a strange rushing noise. With a heavy sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she scrambled to look out the window. She saw the ocean, coming up the side of the mountain in great gulps. Riding on the crests of the waves, in a green chariot drawn by hump-backed animals, was Lord Poseidon. It took Amphitrite a moment to react. She had presumed that he would send stewards or pageboys, or maybe a group of his soldiers out to look for her, but she had never anticipated that he would come after her himself.

Eyes widening and heart racing, she seized her pack and leapt out the window, running thoughtlessly for higher ground, hoping that the further Poseidon got from his sphere of control, the weaker he would get. She scrambled madly up the stony paths for as long as she could, but she eventually reached a small thicket of trees and had to pause for breath, even as she could hear him drawing closer. Suddenly, a small girl, younger than she herself, appeared in front of her. She had bright auburn hair, hanging loose around her shoulder, an elegant blue tunic on her youthful limbs and a brilliantly shining silver bow in her hands. She knocked an arrow as Poseidon leapt from the car of his chariot and sprinted into the clearing.

He stopped short when he saw the silver arrow pointed at his heart. He rolled his eyes. "Tedious young daughter of Zeus, get out of my way. You stand between the Lord of the Sea and his future bride," He smirked broadly, his sea green eyes flitting over Amphitrite, who was huddled against the slender trees, gasping for breath. "My dear Amphitrite, drab woolen garments and rough leather sandals do not become you. I will dress you in beautiful clothes like the queen you are, if only you come back to the sea with me, consenting to be my wife." Now even more determined to evade him, Amphitrite straightened, about to speak defiantly, when she was cut off by the daughter of Zeus' angry sibilation as she loosed her arrow. It thunked into the wood by his head. "My name is Artemis, beloved daughter of Lord Zeus, protector for the innocent, especially of maidens who flee from boorish men who would make them into little more than servants. In the name of the king of the gods, my father, who will back any action of mine, his favorite child, I order you back to your own sphere of influence, the sea."

Poseidon gritted his teeth, obviously weighing the advisability of ignoring a small child against ignoring a small child who was the daughter of Zeus. "Fine," He snarled. "But know that you've only delayed the inevitable," He turned, leapt into his chariot, and began retreating, the sea going with him.

Artemis told Amphitrite of a place where she would be safe from Poseidon's reaches. Further up in the mountains lay the ruined fortress of Atlas. It was still inhabitable and would make an excellent place to lay low until Poseidon, who, Artemis assured her, had a notoriously short attention span, forgot about her. So Amphitrite went. The fortress was a dark place of leering shadows and strange noises, filled with a strange, grayish film that floated like feathers of sea birds everywhere Amphitrite placed her feet. Tucked away in a small corner of the fortress that still had a roof and four walls, she pulled out a blanket from her pack and curled up to sleep.

**I'm sorry about the lack of dialogue in this chapter, and also about it's length- the next one should be significantly longer, but no promises about more dialogue. Please let me know what you think, I'd love to hear it! **


	4. In Which There Is A Revelation

**I am back by popular request! For the first time, this fic has garnered more views than my other one about Hades and Persephone. I am pleased with this. Thank you so much for everyone who stuck with me, I promise the chapters are going to be a little more frequent now! **

**AND THUS CHAPTER FOUR BEGINS! **

Amphitrite made her home there. Sitting alone in the fallen keep of the Titan Atlas in the middle of the woods, though it would have seemed uneventful to most, was a fine adventure to Amphitrite, a goddess who'd never stepped beyond the boundaries of her father's kingdom before. She made her main camp in the corner she had curled up in her first night there. She ate fish and plants and other creatures that lived in a nearby stream, and occupied a vast majority of her day, besides watching the woodland creatures around her and becoming acquainted with them, soaking in the stream. What she didn't know was that this stream connected directly to the ocean.

But she was steadily becoming aware of a very important fact- she was a creature of the salt waves, and she needed them to stay alive. Her separation from the sea, which was a flat blue glimmer on the distant horizon (how inhospitable, how ugly her home looked from this vantage point) was slowly leaching away her strength, her beauty. Her hair had lost its dark glisten, her skin it's pearlescent sheen. She felt brittle and crackly, like dried seaweed. She lacked energy, and the smallest tasks of finding food and consuming it tired her. When she soaked in the steam, she felt a little more rejuvenated, but she knew that without salt water, and soon, she would fade away.

Months had passed, each day exactly the same as the one that passed before it. Amphitrite supposed that Poseidon would have forgotten about her by now, perhaps even married someone else. So, she reasoned, it should be perfectly all right for her to make a short trip back to the sea, to restore her strength so that she could return to the fortress and stay put until she was absolutely certain it was all right for her to return. And, she thought, smiling grimly as she picked her way down the mountainside, precarious and slow and wondering how many bones she'd break if she fell in her new, fragile state, even if Poseidon hadn't forgotten about her, he certainly wouldn't want her the way she looked now.

Amphitrite did not know this, but Poseidon had not forgotten about her by any means. Indeed, his curiosity had only been sharpened by the long months he had been unable to locate her. She was clever enough to pray to Artemis for help and then hide herself away and keep herself wherever she was for as long as she had. He had been searching for her himself, when his kingly duties weren't occupying him (which took up an alarming portion of his life), his voice echoing lonesomely all throughout his watery world, searching with single-minded devotion for the one girl who had ever defied him.

He had also created an emissary specifically for the task of helping him in his arduous search for his missing queen. He had given the creation sleek skin and smooth flippers and bright black eyes. He christened his creation Dolphin and gave it the ability to travel freely between salt and fresh water, so that he could liaise with the Naiads of the fresh water springs on land, in case Amphitrite had been seen or harbored by any of them. But Dolphin had been bringing back increasingly negatives reports from these Naiads, who had apparently heard lots of things about Poseidon from the Olympians, who presumably had heard unflattering things about him from Artemis and Zeus. Though they honored him as their lord, as they were all females of the same mindset of Artemis and Athena, his newest niece, they believed that women should be free to choose their own spouses, or at the very least have a say in their father's choice for them. None of them would tell Dolphin (and therefore him) a thing.

But eventually, a Naiad of a small river gave in under the pressure. She went to Dolphin and promised him good information about Amphitrite for the ability to keep her stream safe and free no matter what transpired in the future. Poseidon had given Dolphin the power to grant requests such as that on the spot, which he did. The Naiad, nervously braiding and plaiting her flowing brown hair, made good on her promise, and Dolphin rushed back to the sea to tell his king. "The Lady Amphitrite, fiftieth daughter of Nereus and Doris, has been camping in the ruined fortress of Atlas, further upon the mountain, out of my Lord Poseidon's reach. She had plans to stay there until you forgot all about her," Dolphin said cautiously, hovering respectfully before Poseidon, who sat on his throne of coral and pearl. "Then what am I waiting for?" crowed Poseidon, leaping from his dais, a radiant smile creasing his face. "But wait!" Dolphin continued. "Lady Amphitrite's' life force is slowly dwindling away- she needs the sea to survive, and without coming back soon, she will perish." Poseidon's face fell, into confusion and worry. "Then I must bring her back all the sooner! She would truly rather dissolve into a pile of green dust than be mine?" He shouted. "I must first go to Olympus and petition Zeus on my behalf. Once he gives me consent, I can flood up the mountainside and bring her home at once!" He mused. "That's just the thing, my lord," Dolphin said. "My informant said she was already on her way down the mountainside, back to the sea. My informant had no idea how long it would take her to reach the shoreline in her weakened state, but that she was not yet there," A slow smile stretched across Poseidon's face. "Well, then, we will just have to be waiting to welcome her home,"

Poseidon reached the shore later that day and floated there among the flotsam and jetsam. He had told Dolphin not to come along, as this was something he wanted to do by himself. But he also did not want Dolphin to see that his confidence had been shaken. Poseidon, no matter how many other people said he would, did not think he could ever be so callous as to forget someone he had once pursued. And never would a day pass by where he wouldn't remember that it had been his fault that such a lovely and radiant creature would have been gone. He wondered if she was in pain, and if it had really been worthy barter for her paltry few months of bought time? He fancied that he would have sensed instantly when she had returned to the sea, when the breakers had closed around her once more, and would have swum out to greet her, to bring her back to his palace like the queen she was born to be.

For two days, these thoughts and others chased each other around and around inside his head. But on the third day, his patience was rewarded. Amphitrite staggered out from the scrub that lined the beach looking positively exhausted. Even with thinned hair, in dirty robes of wool like a poor shepherds wife, and dull eyes, she still was beautiful. But there was a furtive guile in those dull eyes that none of her sisters possessed. Or maybe that was result of spending the past few months in a radically different environment, fending completely for herself. She scanned the beach quickly, and determined that she was alone. She dropped her dusty pack into the sand, shed her torn, worn sandals and rough outer drape, showing off the nearly artistic lines of her legs and slender arms. The thin under-drape clung to her torso, the bones of her hips pushing the fabric outward. Forgetting all the fatigue and loneliness and exhaustion and worry that had replaced her sisters as her constant companions, she sprinted to the waves. They instantly closed around her, welcoming her home with loud crashing and frothing whitecaps. She dove and splashed, reveling in the feeling of her strength returning. Her beauty was restored, and she was so, so much more lovely than her sisters. Poseidon's memory had not managed to do her justice. Had it been six months earlier, Poseidon would have swum out and embraced her right them and there. But her respected her now, for her cunningness and endurance in evading him for so long, and so remained hidden by the protruding crags of rock jutting into the ocean. She moved him enough as she leapt through the clear, green-glass water to create a whole host of animals that took whatever shapes he saw in the froth that followed in her wake.

Poseidon continued to wait for her to slip down into deeper waters, to let the mournful songs of her sisters, lamenting her loss, pull her home, but she didn't. Her feet stayed where she could brush them lightly against the white sand at all times. When she turned around and began making her way back to shore, Poseidon made his presence known. For, floating there on the tide that sunlit afternoon, he realized that he did not want her just for her pretty face, or for her resourcefulness, but because she was the perfect complement to him, because she brought a completeness that was all-consuming to him. It was as though he had unexpectedly found a very great treasure that he hadn't known he was looking for. He realized that because she was herself, there was a very good chance that she actually could hold out against him for as long as she had to. And he realized her didn't think he could have lived with himself if he had gone home now, having been so close to her and done nothing.

Amphitrite found the small army of curious creatures that Poseidon had created from the water that had buoyed her, and she knew something was afoot. She wanted to believe it was just the sea, wordlessly welcoming her back to where she belonged, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was something wrong. She then saw a head of black hair rising from the water, between her and the shore. As the face, neck and shoulders followed, she saw that it was Poseidon, having finally come to claim his long-awaited prize, and he was blocking her only viable escape route, a smile as wide as the day is long decorating his face, victory shining out of his eyes. So, like the previous times her had uninvitedly cornered her, she did the stupid, cowardly thing and took flight, swimming as fast as she knew how out into the deeps. Though she had the advantage to over twenty years swimming in these waters, Poseidon had spent two solid days here, and had learned fast.

He was right on her tail, her pale feet only a fingers length away. She was swimming deeper and deeper into a dark abyss, obviously hoping to lose him in the inky murk. Poseidon felt smug and excited- in but a few more moments, she would run into the bottom and realize there was nowhere she could possibly go but back with him. Spurred on by this thought, he put on an extra burst of speed. He had just clasped his arms around her- her shriek was piercing- when she disappeared, her cry still ringing through the trench.

**There we go, cliffhanger ending! I hope everyone enjoyed! **


	5. In Which A Friend Is Made

**Chapter five! I'm excited for this one- it's my favorite thus far. **

Amphitrite had her eyes clamped shut tight. Poseidon had finally caught up with her, and she feared what was coming next. But now, all of the sudden, she was no longer floating through the wine-dark brine but through golden air. As she felt herself settle down on a soft surface, she opened her eyes to tentative slits. She had to shut them immediately, taken by surprise by the brightness of the light surrounding her. Her curiosity now burning to a thought-stifling high, she opened her eyes fully, and was instantly dazzled. This much beauty, this much opulence and radiance and light could only be found on Olympus. Her inference seemed to be correct, because sitting on a couch in front of her was another woman.

She wore an elegant blue dress that shimmered with shades of green and occasionally flashes of copper, in the shape of feathers. Her long, silky black hair was bound in a graceful braid over one shoulder, and she was crowned with the golden diadem of the Lady of the Heavens. It was Lady Hera, Queen of the Gods. She smiled kindly at Amphitrite, who bowed gracefully as her mother had taught her, saying, "Lady Hera,"

"Please, just call me Hera," She responded. "How did I come to be here on Olympus, of all places?" Amphitrite wondered aloud, and Hera laughed, exposing the milky skin of her neck. "I brought you here, fished you out of the depths where Poseidon was almost upon you, in order to save you." Amphitrite tried not to let her eyes widen too much- though she was former royalty and had been raised with important women, _this was Olympus_ and she couldn't help feeling like a country bumpkin in comparison. The alarming though dashed through her mind that if she did indeed end up wed to Poseidon, she would be this woman's equal. "I thank you very much for your assistance, Lady Hera. I cannot fully express my gratefulness. What will you require of me in return?" Amphitrite asked politely. Her mother had always told her that surface deities never do anyone or anything a favor simply out of he goodness of their hearts. Lady Hera smiled softly. "You need not do anything, dear Amphitrite. I, too, know what it is like to attempt to resist a son of Kronos when seemingly no one will aid you." An edge of silvery sadness entered her tone and her azure eyes, as though thinking of a past mistake. She quickly recovered, continuing, "Did you know that Poseidon has decreed to every single thing that honors him as lord that to assist you in your flight from him will mean certain death?" Amphitrite was silent, studying the woman who saved her, because there really was no sort of response that she could give.

"And that is why," Hera recommenced, "I brought you here- because I sympathize with you, and there are others here, like Artemis and Athena and Hestia, who do as well. We here on Olympus watched your early struggles- running away from home, evading Poseidon, camping out in the rugged fortress of Atlas- with great interest. I think you're a lovely young woman, and you deserve a chance at a marriage that you will define and not the other way around. Come, walk with me," Hera stood and offered the crook of her elbow to Amphitrite, who was still wondering what along the way she had done to incur the sympathies of Hera, the queen above all queens. As she linked arms with the Lady of the Heavens, she realized that her drenched and immodest under-drape had been replaced by a clean white chiton, her soaked, straggling and salty locks done into an elegant knot.

She and Hera began a slow promenade around Olympus, the glorious citadel in the sky. All who they passed called out a cheerful greeting to Hera, who in turn introduced them to Amphitrite. At every sight, Amphitrite was shocked and amazed anew. She had thought the simple old man and woman who first gave her food and clothes when she stepped out of the sea were different from what she was used to? Olympus, surrounded by swirling clouds and bathed in brilliant, warming sunshine, was a place of shining and permanent gold and pristine marble, so different from the utterly changeable coral, pearl and silver that she was used to. Everywhere, everything was the epitome of loveliness- Olympus truly was the Eternal City. Amphitrite and Hera eventually came to a secluded and lush area of gardens, where Hera began to talk to her in earnest. "You will be completely and utterly safe here from Poseidon. He has no influence here and he may not come here unless he is expressly invited. If you wish it, you may stay here as my personal guest for as long as you want, that you may rest and learn about both yourself and the rest of the world," She tipped her head inquisitively, still looking Amphitrite in the eyes, "You seem like a girl who would enjoy learning about the way other people do things," Her expression changed into something more serious.

"I caution you," she began, nothing but sincerity shining out of her eyes, blue as the skies surrounding them as far as could be seen. "One day, you will have to choose between two paths. You can either choose to retain your independence, but never be able to see your family again, because you will have to stay here with us. Or you will become Poseidon's wife and queen, but never again be your own person." She dropped her gaze to look at the multicolored flowers strewn in the beds around them. "If I may be so bold as to ask?" Amphitrite started. Hera looked back up at her, indicating that she should continue. "If you could go back, which one would you pick?" Amphitrite asked. Hera averted her eyes again, her previously perfect posture dissolving into a slump. "I don't even know," she responded quietly after a moment. "But enough about me," she said, squaring her shoulders once more. "You don't have to know today or tomorrow, but you will have to pick one or the other some day." Silence stretched between them, until Hera said, "And now, on to an equally important question: will you be staying with us on Olympus?" She looked hopeful as Amphitrite weighed her options. On one hand, it would be lovely to have people surrounding her again, and, most importantly, to be safe from Poseidon. But, proud, independent creature that she was, she did not wish o be indebted to someone overlong. After a moment's wordless musings, she came to the conclusion that not having to constantly look over her shoulder for Poseidon outweighed everything else. "Yes, I will," she responded. Hera laughed delightedly, pulled Amphitrite into a hug, saying, "I think you're going to like it here,"

**And so ends chapter five. I wanted to bring Hera into things because this story is taking place before most of the traditional myths- Poseidon and Athena's dispute over Athens, the Trojan War, all that stuff- and I figured, in lack of anything better to do, the gods on Olympus might do what they always do and take sides in other gods' quarrels. I also think Hera would feel a certain connection with Amphitrite, because of the parallels she draws in her own relationship with Zeus. Please let me know what you think, I'd love to hear it! **


	6. In Which A Party Is Hosted

Amphitrites' days passed. As her days in the woods at the old keep of Atlas had been nothing but solitary, her days on Olympus whirled by in a hurricane of faces and names and parties and loudness and crowds and pretty words whispered hushed into her ear. She and Hera became good friends, counselors and confidantes, close to Amphitrite like a sister, an honor she didn't bestow lightly. At Hera's side, she met every important personage on Olympus. Hermes was cheerful and pleasant, Apollo sweet and exuberant, Ares was obnoxious, Hephaestos was the most generous person she had ever met and Dionysus was more often drunk than sober. Athena was witty, Artemis headstrong, Aphrodite silly. Hestia was kind and Demeter quiet, and of course Lord Zeus was as powerful and handsome as an eagle swooping in to make a kill. Lady Hera and Lady Demeter's daughter Kore- who Hera stubbornly called Persephone though Demeter chastened her for it- seemed to be special friends. Even though Kore-Persephone was young yet, she was already attracting more than cursory glances from some of the previously mentioned gods, and Amphitrite could understand why Demeter still dressed her in childish clothes and tucked her close behind her skirts when anyone addressed her.

When the summer's heat was in its zenith, and Amphitrite had been gone from her home for over three years, Zeus decided to throw a party, to commemorate the gods' victory over the Titans. Everyone who had helped them was invited. The night of the party was crisp with a million stars. Before her sojourn in the Upper World, Amphitrite had never seen a star, and she thought that stars would be the part she would miss the most about her new life, aside from her new friends. For Amphitrite missed her family and her peaceful, lovely ocean more than anything. Hera had ordered a beautiful saltwater pool constructed for her and Amphitrite had filled it with a whole manner of sea-dwelling creatures, which only reminded her of her childhood, of all she was missing, and offered her no comfort at all. It had, after all, been three long years since she had seen her mother, her father, her sisters, or even been able to so much as talk to them, assure them that she was all right and thinking of them daily. On the outside, she was as strong and enduring as a pearl, but on the inside, her resolve was wavering. She had seen that Zeus and Hera did not spend every moment at each other's sides, that Zeus did what he wanted while Hera did as she pleased. She was very seriously considering giving up and ending her self-imposed exile.

Amphitrite drew out of her wardrobe the dress she had worn when she rose from the sea, and Hera herself helped her curl her hair and array herself in the diadem proudly proclaiming herself as the fiftieth daughter of Nereus and Doris. They entered the party arm-in-arm, beaming for all the world.

Apollo and his Muses were strumming away at their lyres, beating their drums and crooning. Dionysus arrived already so completely drunk that he could barely stagger around shouting lewd comments, and Hermes asked Amphitrite for her first dance. At first Amphitrite was awkward, stiff, but she loosened up at she realized that Poseidon was not among the assembled. "You look quite lovely in that color of green," Hermes offered. "Oh, thank you," she demurred. "And your eyes- I never noticed- they quite put the glittering gems from your home to shame," he continued, peering into her eyes. "Did you only just now notice? I'm hurt," he said coquettishly, fluttering her eyelashes. "Overall, I'd say you're just as lovely as Lady Hera or Aphrodite. Maybe even more," he whispered, leaning in closely as though he was telling her a secret. "Thank you," she responded, leaning up to touch the tips of his curly hair by his ear with her lips. "But I think the Lady Iris has something of a crush on you," she continued. "Really?" he asked, pulling back, astonished. "Yes," Amphitrite responded. "Well, then, after this dance, you must excuse me," he said, a surprised but pleased smile decorating his face. And she did.

Amphitrite laughed and talked and danced as she pleased, and greatly enjoyed the night. At one point, Apollo asked if she would dance with him. She was very flattered that he would take a break from the music that was his wife and queen to dance with her. They bantered lightly back and forth, and Amphitrite made the mistake of leaning forward, eyes closed, to lay her head on his shoulder. Apollo's thin, almost feminine shoulder and light hands that had been callused only by the bow and the lyre were replaced by thick shoulders, lined heavily with dense muscle and strong hands pressed around her waist, heat from them bleeding into her back. Her eyes snapped open, expecting the sight that greeted them. Lord Poseidon smiled at her expectantly.

All of Amphitrite's muscles tensed as she prepared to flee, which Poseidon seemed to notice and find humorous. He wrapped his arm around the small of her back and continued to sway to the music, smiling as his eyes flitted all over her face, like he was trying to affix her features permanently in his memory. Amphitrite tried to remain rooted to the spot, still as a statue, but Poseidon evidently wanted to dance with her, because he began to sway even more forcefully. Heart thumping painfully fast, which she was certain he was aware of, Amphitrite cast her eyes frantically around the room for someone, anyone, who would help her. But not one person in the crowded ballroom seemed to realize that she had been cornered by the very person she'd been hiding from for the past three years.

"My lady," he said, voice resonant and reminiscent of the crashing of waves. "I am _not_ you lady," she whispered, voice unable to become much louder. "I think not," he responded, voice polite and genuinely puzzled, like he had no idea what she could be thinking. "I finally caught you, you see, and I don't intend to let go," Amphitrite had been considering going home before the party, whether or not that meant with Poseidon, but now that he was actually here, she couldn't bring herself to. There didn't seem to be a way out this time. Amphitrite felt numb, knew that she would feel later when she was below the sea, despair and joy- though perhaps not in equal measures. He smiled again, seemingly encouraging. Her face remained stonily impassive.

Poseidon tightened his grip on her, as though he feared she's metamorphose into a fish and wriggle away. His kingly toga was green silk and warmth from his skin had seeped unwelcome into every part of Amphitrite. His eyes got a faraway look as though he was concentrating on something else. "I really can't believe it," he said, voice lowered now as though confessing. "After everything these past three years, I've finally found you. Got you at last. Did you know I searched for you every day? Your family went frantic, and your sisters cut off all their hair in mourning." His hand crept from her back to her skull, running his fingers in her ringlets, which she'd left unbound, as befitting an unmarried woman. "I'd forgotten how lovely a Nereid with all her hair was. But of course, even when next to all your sisters, and indeed, everyone else, you surpassed them all without even trying. When you wouldn't tell me your name, I was drawn in. You caught me like a fish in a net. When I found your father and was given his blessing, I was so happy. And then when you ran away," he said, brows furrowing, face darkening like a thundercloud, "I was very upset.

"When I found you the second time, I admit, I was careless. I charged after you like an angry bull, because I couldn't believe you didn't want me. How did you think to pray to Artemis?" he asked, looking back at her admiringly. Amphitrite recalled that she'd merely staggered into a grove of trees, hadn't prayed to anyone, asked for any help. "It was all I could do not to snap her little toy bow and leave her staked to a tree with a few tridents in her tunic," he continued, laughing as he spoke. "And then when you were in the fortress of Atlas," he full out scowled now, remembered fury and, surprisingly, helplessness sparking out of his eyes. "You. . . almost . . .almost. . . .whatever we do if we cease to exist. Because of me. So the third time I found you, that day on the beach, I'd been waiting for you. I was more thoughtful this time. I was going to wait until you swam out to deeper water, but instead you headed inland. I couldn't let you go, I just couldn't. So I chased you and then you came here. I didn't know that at the time, though, and I had every single creature under my jurisdiction and a few not searching for you. They all _wanted_ to help," He was now looking at her imploringly.

Amphitrite summoned up enough voice to say, "They only 'wanted' to help because they were afraid you'd kill them if they didn't," He laughed like she'd told a joke. "Yes, there was that," he agreed. They fell silent, the music swelling around them. A horrible thought dawned on Amphitrite. Poseidon's smirk became wicked as he leaned down, his lips moving against her ear, and whispered, "Your knees are lovely," her eyes widened, she blanched, and her mouth hung open slightly. Her shock was quickly seared away by white hot anger. She pulled back as far as she could, and, as fast and hard as possible, she slapped him right across the face.

The end of the music was punctuated in a very unbecoming way by the sharp crack of her hand on his face, which echoed into the sudden silence as all talking and laughing ceased, all eyes turning to them. Poseidon had relinquished his hold on her and staggered back, palm pressed to his smarting red cheek, incredulity evident on his face. Amphitrite clutched her trembling hand to her chest, every nerve ending stinging sharply. She could only hope his face felt as bad. "You cad," she said, voice strong and brave now, reverberating through the pin-drop silent hall. "You stood there and watched me and didn't make your presence known and then you have the gall to come here and look me in the face. Do you have any idea what my father would say?!" her voice rose to a shout towards the end of her tirade. Instead of looking ashamed and chagrined, Poseidon began to laugh. "Your father is the one who promised you to me after not a minutes' consideration. I doubt if he'd have been that bothered," he continued to laugh. Amphitrite brought the back of her hand cracking across the other side of his face. " You sicken me. You may call yourself a king, but this is _not_ how a ruler conducts himself," she proclaimed

And then she spun on her heel, her fury channeling down one path. She burst into the shape of a sea bird and soared away through the night air. She vowed to fly until she was too exhausted to carry on.

**A.N.- I like this chapter, it's helping things progress a bit. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up by the end of this week- things are about to get real. **

**Oh, and also! There is a graphic novel series called the Olympians by George O'Connor, and A BOOK ABOUT POSEIDON CAME OUT! I was a bit upset because they didn't even mention Amphitrite, but whatever…. The book was fabulous, and I highly recommend it!**


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